Victories and Miracles
by Guardian105
Summary: I'm being safe with the rating. There's a fight. Although this isn't based on Unreal Tournament, apparently that's my only choice. This is a short about two Vortex Rikers prisoners fighting their first Titan.


    Falcon took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes. The current rocket in his Launcher was his last one; Carole had spent hers long ago. So he'd have to make this one _count_.     But he had a feeling they were getting close. The Giant seemed much weaker than when the three of them first met. Now it couldn't pick up those large stones anymore; now all it could do was walk around, trying to knock the two humans into a bloody pulp or fling them into the air. But they were too fast for this old, lumbering hunk of meat.     The crosshair turned red; the rocket was locked on. It was time to pull the trigger. With a battle cry that rang in harmony with the other screams in the dungeon below, Falcon tightened his grip on the EightBall Launcher and let fly.     The Launcher popped up a few inches as the rocket left the barrel and streaked towards its target. Carole, meanwhile, was taunting the lumbering hulk with the lowly Dispersion Pistol, one of two they both had found early on, in the wreckage of the Vortex Rikers.     The Giant turned around just in time to meet Falcon's rocket head on, right square in the chest. Blood spilled everywhere and the creature roared in pain as its legs began to tremble.     "Carole, get outtah the way!" Falcon yelled over the din of the monster's dying breath. Carole already knew what to do and was well away from the towering behemoth.     The Giant's legs finally gave out and the thing crashed to the floor, shattering the very gates that the two former prisoners were trying to get open when they inadvertently triggered the entrance of the nightmare. The ground still shook a good ten seconds after the demon fell; Carole and the Falcon kissed the ground so as to keep from rolling about.     Finally, it stopped. All was still; the screams had ceased, and not even the bird-creatures were calling out.     Carole was the first to rise. She hesitantly stalked towards the down creature, careful to check fur any sudden moves. Assured that the Giant was indeed immobilized, she motioned for Falcon to come on over.     On his way over, Falcon noticed that the creature's fall did more than just shatter the gates; it blew a hole through a wall, one that could very well lead to a way out of this hell. He whistled and jerked his head towards the gate in the center. "Don't bother looking for some sortah key or lever; I think this guy did it for us."     Carole followed her comrade's gaze and, eyebrows raised, nodded and followed. "There's too much meat around him anyway; I wouldn't have wanted to go spelunking through that for my life."     "What about mine?" Falcon joked. Before, when the two had first met, he wouldn't have dared a chuckle. But now he realized, though a fellow prisoner like himself, Carole wasn't all that bad, especially for someone accused of homicide.     Carole cocked an eye at the Falcon. "No boy, not for you either."     Falcon laughed. At least she didn't call him a name this time.     Stepping over rubble the two found themselves in a fairly large room. Two locked doors on the left and right walls led somewhere; the two former prisoners weren't interested in finding out where. A small flight of stairs led to another gate, locked as well, but it was unanimously decided that the lever nearby could help fix that problem.

****

    "Do I smell smoke?" Carole asked warily as the two stepped out from the hallway.     Falcon took a careful whiff. "Yeah, but not enough to count for a brush fire . . ."     "Settlements, maybe?"     "Could be; haven't seen too many inhabited, though. And this close to that --- _arena_ . . ."     "Well, maybe this place got lucky." Stepping out further, the two could see numerous trails of smoke slowly wafting up into the sky. Village walls kept them from seeing just what exactly was creating these smoke-trails, but the guess was obvious.     "More Skarrj?" Falcon asked.     "I hope not; my Pistol still hasn't finished recharging, and I'm beat."     Falcon glanced over at his comrade. Carole was right; if there _were_ Skarrj in the village, she probably wouldn't survive another firefight. "Stay here," the man finally suggested. "I'll scope the place out."     Carole didn't argue. Instead she looked up at the Falcon. "You sure? What happens when you don't come back?"     Falcon smirked. "Rest up, then come into the village with Dispersion Pistol blazing I guess."     Carole snorted, then sat against the wall. "Five minutes."     "Ten. Who knows what could be up there?"     "Aiight, ten then, but no more."     "Don't worry."

****

    Falcon used six of his ten minutes. He came rushing back to the hallway, a big grin on his face. Carole stifled a yawn and stood up. "And what's made you so happy?"     The Falcon could barely contain his laughter. "That village, it's full of those four-armed natives we've seen around."     "And?"     "They're giving us free reign because they think we're their messiah!" 


End file.
